MIT Researchers Detect Emotions With IoTMIT's Computer Science and Artiﬁcial Intelligence Laboratory, (CSAIL), has developed a device known as the EQ-Radio that uses RF signals to capture a person's emotions. The device measures changes in breathing and heart rhythms, and thereby enables the system to determine whether the person within range of that device is happy, sad, angry or excited.

The EQ-radio transmitter sends RF signals that reflect off an individual's body and back to the device. It can, based on the reflected signal, determine his or her heartbeat, as well as intervals between heartbeats.

During testing, MIT computer scientist Dina Katabi and her team of researchers sent RF signals—which they say are a thousand times less powerful than conventional Wi-Fi—toward 10 women and 20 men seated three to 10 feet from the transmitters. They then collected measurements of 130,000 individual heartbeats and used the data to detect mood changes in the test subjects. They compared the results against those of existing electrocardiography used for the same purpose, and video-based emotion recognition technology based on facial expressions. The system performed as well as those technologies, the researchers found.

The EQ-radio technology is expected to benefit several industries, including entertainment, since it could detect how well, for instance, audience members responded to a movie or amusement ride. It could also enable health-care providers to detect such conditions as depression and anxiety in a patient.

Katabi has launched a spinoff company known as Emerald to make the device.